Almost 10,000 social housing units completed: construction agency

2018/02/01 21:07:04

Taipei, Feb. 1 (CNA) The Taiwan government's social housing initiative is progressing well, with almost 10,000 units already on the market and thousands more under construction, the national Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) said Thursday.

Under the social housing plan, the government is aiming to put some 200,000 social housing units on the market over an eight-year period for rent at concessionary rates to people in a certain income bracket, the agency indicated.

Of that number, 120,000 will be constructed by the government, while 80,000 will be acquired and renovated, according to data from the agency, which falls under the Ministry of the Interior.

Since the project got off the ground in 2016, the government has put 9,773 social housing units on the market, 2,514 of which were built in 2017, the data showed.

Currently another 10,000 units are under construction, and by the end of 2020, the total number on the market should be 49,000, in line with the government's goals, according to the CPA.

The housing units are being managed by the CPA, while the eligibility regulations are set by the local governments, but generally applicants must be at least 20 years of age, be able to demonstrate financial need, and have household registration in the city where they are applying.

When the initiative was launched last year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her administration said they were making social housing one of their top priorities, in view of the fact that many young professionals could hardly afford to pay rent, far less buy an apartment.

In a discussion of what constituted "Taiwanese values," Tsai and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) agreed that safeguarding young people's right to housing was one of those values.

Tsai had earlier said that social housing projects would be prioritized in the country's three most densely populated cities -- Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan.